Get children coding with Technology Will Save Us kits

Daniel Hirschmann and Bethan Koby, the husband and wife duo behind Technology Will Save Us

Ilka & Franz

Sure, your wristband counts steps. But in kids' hands, the same device could be a dance game, a bike light or the glowing chest-piece of an Iron Man suit. That's the idea behind Mover, the latest maker kit from Technology Will Save Us (TWSU).

Koby and partner Daniel Hirschmann, both 36, founded Technology Will Save Us in 2012, shortly after the birth of their first child.

"Education doesn't move fast enough to keep up with the pace of tech," says Koby. They started teaching a series of local workshops - from basic electronics to coding - before bottling their enthusiasm in kit form. Those origins remain vital: each kit is workshopped extensively during the design phase, "from ideation all the way through to testing," Koby says. (One lesson: "People don't like to read as much as we thought.")

Mover, released in October, enables children to build their own wearable device containing an accelerometer, magnetometer and LEDs. Other products range from Electro-dough (a simple electronics primer for ages 4+) to the Gamer Kit, an Arduino-powered DIY console.

The company also helped to design the BBC micro:bit. "We design learning experiences," says Hirschmann, "which happen to have artefacts at the end of them."

The pair have bigger ambitions. In May, they debuted Make, an ideas resource for fun projects combining micro:bits and TWSU components. Make, Hirschmann says, reflects the company's larger mission: to help kids learn skills as they grow: "We don't just want to be a toy brand."